Fun and games
|details = I have rather a difficult request...You know that aristocrats enjoy playing chess together? A smart person like yourself probably knew that... A certain gentry man is looking for an old,, rare and beautiful chess piece. Please fine something that he will be satisfied with. It might be a good idea to first research about the history of chess at the library. |step1 = /Relationship with India/London/Scholar/ You're interested in the history of chess...? I'm afraid there isn't much writing on the subject of games. Although I do remember an overview of India mentioning a game very similar to chess. It should be in the archaeology section. Why not take a look for it? |step2 = 1/Records of a monastery excavation/London/read Archaeology/ Excavation of a monastery revealed something strange; a number of small figures, including elephants, horses, chariots and infantry. We also found a board with squares carved onto its surface. A monk in the area told us it was called chaturanga, but we were unable to locate any more details than that.../Archaeology/4 |step3 = /The origin of chess?/London/Scholar/ That's it, that's the one I meant. Personally I thought it was some kind of tool developed in India for creating battle strategies... It might be a game, but there are certainly elements of such strategy in chess... so could chaturanga have later become chess? The archaeology section may well provide more answers! |step4 = 1/In Persia/London/read Archaeology/ I witnessed something strange in a palace in Persia. Two military men, nobles, were sitting staring at small statues of men and animals arranged on a board. The looks they gave me were less than welcoming and so I quickly left them alone. I heard afterward that it was a pursuit called shatranj, and became convinced that I had witnessed a military planning session in progress./Archaeology/4 |step5 = /It may have been imparted/Chaturanga and shatranj... similar names and similar content. Could these be originators of chess? If it passed from India to Persia then there is a good chance trade routes brought it to us, too. How about asking the port official to check the trade cargo records? |step6 = /Shafmatu from Bergen/London/Port Official/ The name shatranj didn't come up in the cargo records. But there was something else that started with "sha" that I haven't heard of before - the name "shafmatu." It was in the cargo of a trade ship from Bergen, although the records are very old... |step7 = /Sculptors for generations/Bergen/Sculptor/ Shafmatu...? It's been a long time since I heard that name. That's what my grandfather used to call chess. My family have been carvers for generations, and we've often made chess pieces, even before it took on the name "chess." |step8 = /Joining with the invasion/Bergen/Sculptor/ Old pieces? I don't have any left, I'm afraid. However, one of our oldest customers is a direct descendent of Vikngs. Some of his ancestors took part in the invasion of the British Isles and then settled there. If there was indeed chess back then, they probably took at least one set with them. Apparently they settled in the north of the British Isles. |stepfinal = Location of a piece/British Isles North/near Ruins/ Chess was invented in India and then passed through numerous regions, changing name as it did so. There is a good chance it was carried into the British Isles during the Vikng invasion. Make port in the north of the British Isles and search for a chess piece. |discoXP = 330 |cardXP = 165 |reportXP = 160 |reportfame = 75 |item1 = Quest Mediation Permit |notes = |preQ1 = |subQ1 = |chainQ1 = |landarea = British Isles North |seaarea = Northern Britain Island }}